"We Don't Need No Stinking Degrees!"

In "A Future Full of Badges" (Chronicle, April 13, 2012), Kevin Carey continues to explore the way "badges" are already growing into an important form of alternative certification that could eventually challenge the supremacy of the college degree.  Not only are badges cheaper, they may very well be better in some ways, since they certify real skills and competencies in very consistent and universal ways -- something that cannot be said of the typical college degree.  See also "MITx Expands Access to Higher Education" for more thoughts on Carey's argument.